Computers today often times include operating systems to manage access to hardware and software resources. In turn, the operating systems can include various types of interfaces, such as an Application Programming Interface (API), to enable a programmer and/or application access these resources. In some cases, interfaces are programmed with a specific programming language in mind When a client application is written in the specific programming language, the client application can access the interfaces in ways native to the specific programming language. However, client applications that are written in a language different from that of the interfaces may sometimes end up utilizing additional code and/or wrapper functions in order to call into the interface.
Typically, the interfaces are documented external to the operating system. In order to successfully call an interface, as well as write wrapper functions, a programmer consults the external documentation to determine what interfaces are available, what are the associated call parameters, etc. New versions of an operating system can include new interfaces, modifications to old interfaces, as well removal of obsolete interfaces. Therefore, in order to maintain a current set of APIs, the programmer has to consult the external documentation on each new version of the operating system. This can sometimes result in a delay between when an interface is released in an operating system, and when the interface can be included in a program.